Client’s high tech 2- wheeler component had not found traction in the market

Our client, one of India’s leading automotive component manufacturers, supplies cutting-edge technology products to a large number of 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler OEMs in India. The company had introduced a new engine component for 2-wheelers in India. This product was superior to the existing technology and offered better mileage, superior engine performance and lower emissions. Even though the product had obvious advantages, it did not find a lot of traction in the Indian market.

In order to redevelop the product, appropriately calibrate its marketing plan in India and formulate a price structure for it, the client wanted an extensive and granular understanding of end-user perception, purchase criteria and price-sensitivity in the Indian market.

ValueNotes devised an extensive, pan-India face-to-face survey to understand user sentiment. Over 1600 quantitative and qualitative interviews were conducted with two-wheeler riders and OEM dealers.The sample had representation from three geographic regions (north, south and west) and four types of population centers (urban, semi-urban, towns and rural areas). The respondents were spread across age groups from 18 to 65 and each group had over 30% female respondents.

The client wanted user perceptions about technical details of the product. These details were not easily understood by lay persons. It was necessary to sensitize the respondents about these details, without influencing the responses. The questionnaire was designed in a suitable manner to illicit appropriate response from respondents, and gather information about user experience and product sentiment. The pan-India survey was undertaken after doing an initial pilot in representative geographic areas to calibrate the questionnaire.

Stringent quality controls at each level including continuous automated checks and periodic manual checks were introduced in the research process. This enabled us to identify any inconsistencies early, and helped to gather reliable information from each respondent.

ValueNotes’ diverse competencies in questionnaire design, primary research and data synthesis helped in effectively carrying out research in diverse regions and in multiple languages.

ValueNotes insights helped the client redesign its approach to OEMs for its product

ValueNotes findings helped the client understand the awareness levels, purchase criteria and product sentiment. Further, the study defined tolerable price limits, concerns of the consumers as well asthose of the dealers about the technology. The study highlighted some remarkable regional difference in user perceptions and purchase criteria in India. These findings enabled the client re-design his approach to OEM’s in terms of product features, pricing and messaging.